Screwless fastening elements or devices are increasingly employed in vehicle manufacturing, in particular automobile manufacturing, for fastening accessories, in particular for the pre-assembly of entire components.
In connection with a device known from International Patent Publication WO 96/17178, the frame-shaped base body is connected with the vehicle support structure in a tension-resistant manner only on the side on which a locking element has been connected in one piece with the base body. Since the other locking element is separated from the base body because of its mobility required for the insertion into the cutout and locking behind the cutout edges, under a load it is possible for the base body to be lifted off this non-supported side of the support structure or an accessory placed against the support structure there. In case of the connecting area between the base body and the locking body becoming fatigued, this can result in a permanently gaping split. Furthermore, the local load in the connecting area between the base body and the one locking element is impracticably high, and the support force, which can normally be generated with all locking elements, can only be incompletely utilized, since only one locking element, so to speak, provides support. Laterally projecting fastening tongues are formed in the connecting area of the two locking elements, which allow pre-assembly of the device in a recess of a headliner, which thereafter in a further assembly step is anchored on the vehicle support structure by means of the same device.